Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Ooh, Yeah. Kickstart Free Fiction; Hope It Never Stops

Two good books were there online, and I—

I took the one less expensive,

And that has made all the difference.

Fiction

• At Author's Site: "The Rat Hunter: Part One and Two" by Bruce Heard. Fantasy.
“Have the Second Eunuch’s remains removed with all the respect and care due his rank, and prepared for burial among the stars. Take proper steps to ensure his soul is put to rest. I shall inform the Captain and the Head Mystic of the Temple.”

• At Daily Science Fiction: "Jump, and I'll Catch You" by Michelle Ann King. Science Fiction.
"There meant the place where our new friends lived. When people talked about them, you could hear something extra in the words. Like they were names: Our New Friends. Anton was trying to look forward to it, because it was good to make new friends, but he sometimes got nervous when there were a lot of new things, different things, to take in."

• At HiLobrow: "King Goshawk: Part 31" by Eimar O'Duffy. Science Fiction.
"Progressa was a holy woman in her time, by whose intercession the world was redeemed from the greatest plague that ever threatened it: namely, a plague of babies. In those days all who came together in love (unless man or maid were blessed with the precious gift of sterility) would commonly reproduce their kind: which was a grave inconvenience both in marriage and out of it."

• At Project Gutenberg:The Mabinogiontranslated by Lady Charlotte Schreiber. Mythology. Fantasy.
"The next morning they heard an exceeding great clamour, which was caused by the coming of the giant with the two youths. And the Earl was anxious both to protect his Castle and to release his two sons. Then Owain put on his armour and went forth to encounter the giant, and the lion followed him. And when the giant saw that Owain was armed, he rushed towards him and attacked him."

• At Tor.com: "The Colonel" by Peter Watts.Science Fiction
"Colonel Moore is in trouble. His wife has retreated into a virtual heaven and his son remains missing after joining an extrasolar mission to track down an alien race. He is presently tasked by his superiors with the threat assessment of hived human intelligences, one of which successfully attacks a compound under his watch. Now, one of the strongest hive minds in the world approaches Keaton with an offer that could completely change his world."

• At Tor.com: "A Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Proposed Trade-Offs for the Overhaul of the Barricade" by John Chu. Science Fiction.
"Generation after generation, engineers have maintained the barricade, a shield that protects civilization against Turbulence, this strange force that destroys both minds and machines. As Turbulence grows ever more intense and the barricade begins to fail, can Ritter live up to the demands of his father, an engineer the equal of any hero in the Five Great Classical Novels, as they struggle to prevent this civilization from falling like every civilization has before it?"

• At PodCastle: "Saving Bacon" by Ann Leckie, read by Alasdair Stuart. Fantasy.
"The continuation of the race is of course the first and highest priority of those privileged to be born into the ancient family of Vachash-Troer, and I, Slale Vachash-Troer, am so privileged. As a male, I am unable to perpetuate the family name, but one still likes to promote connections to other families of similarly distinguished ancestry, connections that, so I’m told, increase the wealth and influence of our noble line."